With the star power of Laurence Olivier as leading actor and a top-notch production team creating what many consider to be among the very best Romance/Dramas of all-times, and based on Emily Bronte's 1847 best-selling literary classic Wuthering Heights (Epinion: http://www.epinions.com/book-review-2B73-1E748FF-38C2BFD4-prod7 ) , you would figure the film to “clean up” at the Academy Awards. However, this was 1939, undeniably the best year in the history of American films, leaving Wuthering Heights with but with one statuette.
1939, a little over a decade after the first “talkie”, was likely an unsurpassable year on screen; just by reading over the list of nominees for best picture, this realization is cemented. In another affirmation, before researching 1939 at all, as I loaded my Netflix Marquee Queue (Epinion: http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-2AF9-EC3C7CE-387C2A2C-prod1 ) with classic films that I either haven’t seen, or haven’t seen for nearly 20 years, I was surprised to find that about two thirds of my classic request came from one year, 1939.
1939 Best Picture Nominees
Gone with the Wind- Winner, Best Picture: This epic classic won an amazing eight Academy Awards that year, a record until 1958, despite the heavy competition. This film also was the champion at the box office, holding the record box office sales for years to come. Interestingly, the film introduced, Vivien Leigh in the first of her two Oscar winning performances. At the time, she was Wuthering Heights Star, Laurence Olivier’s, fiancee, who came with him to Hollywood and was passed over for the leading lady role in Wuthering Heights. (13 nominations, 8 wins and 2 honorary awards Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Color Cinematography, Best Interior Decoration, Best Film Editing, and Best Supporting Actress)
Dark Victory (3 nominations) Goodbye, Mr. Chips (7 nominations, winner Best Actor- Robert Donat) – based on the James Hilton Classic Love Affair(5 nominations) - Later remade in 1957 as An Affair to Remember Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (11 nominations, winner Best Original Screenplay) Ninotchka(4 nominations) Of Mice and Men(5 nominations) – based on the Steinbeck classic Stagecoach(7 nominations, 2 wins- Best Supporting Actor, Best Score) The Wizard of Oz(6 nominations, 2 wins- Best Song, Best Original Score) Wuthering Heights(8 nominations, winner Best Black and White Cinematography)
Wuthering Heights’ Star Power
Laurence Olivier, as Heathcliff: In Olivier’s distinguished 60-year career, this would be the first of ten Oscar nominations for Olivier. (He won one, Hamlet, 1948)
Merle Oberson, as Catherine Earnshaw(Cathy): Though Oberson’s sole Oscar nomination was for The Dark Angel in 1935, her portrayal of Cathy is her best-remembered and most acclaimed performance of her 40-year career.
David Niven, as Edward Linton: Best known perhaps for his role as Sir Charles Litton in the Pink Panther movies, Niven passed away around the time of the release of his last movie, Curse of the Pink Panther, in 1983. The highlight of his fifty-year career was his Best Actor Oscar in 1958 for Separate Tables.
Geraldine Fitzgerald, as Isabella Linton: Wuthering Heights was Fitzgerald’s first film, and the highlight of her film career, and earned her her sole Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
The rest of the cast included Donald Crisp (winner – 1942 Best Supporting Actor), Cecil Kellaway ( two Oscar nominations), and Flora Robson (one Oscar nomination)
Director - William Wyler, considered among the best directors of all time. (A record 12 Oscar nominations, and 3 Oscars won (including Ben Hur). Wyler was a perfectionist and known for getting the most out of his actors resulting in Oscars for Olivia de Havilland, Barbara Streisand, Bette Davis, Fredric March, Audrey Hepburn, Teresa Wright, Hugh Griffith, and Charlton Heston during his fifty-year directing career.
Cinematographer- Greg Toland. Toland had six Oscar nominations and was notable for his experimental work (and nomination) for Citizen Cane, and his lone Oscar win, Wuthering Heights.
Producer- Samuel Goldwyn. Of all his critically acclaimed movies, Wuthering Heights was his “favorite production”
Score Writer- Alfred Newman: Winner of an incredible eight Oscars, Newman was nominated for his work on the Scores of 45 different movies, including nominations for four different 1939 films.
Finally, the Film
The film is based on the first two thirds of the Bronte Classic, but cutting even two thirds of this epic verbose novel to a 104 minute presentation was surely no easy task. Yet, the writers & production team succeeded in giving us the true essence of most of the plot (focusing mainly on the Heathcliff/Catherine story line) and themes so fully developed in the novel. In addition, due to the simplified condensed nature of the film, and visuals that eliminate the need for much of Bronte’s ornate language, The movie is more accessible to the public than the novel.
The revenge of Heathcliff, for the abuse from Hindley Earnshaw, and for Catherine’s “desertion” of him, and the conflicts between storm and calm, good and evil, and love and hate are all developed here in a remarkably short time. I found amusing that, the speed of the film, taken in conjunction with the typical “1930’s drama” overly dramatic acting, at times makes Catherine appear to be schizophrenic rather than conflicted. Other than this one small flaw, the film stands very well on it’s own. All of the actor’s portrayals were powerfully in line with the intended result. (For more detail, please refer to my review of the novel: http://www.epinions.com/book-review-2B73-1E748FF-38C2BFD4-prod7)
The music is brilliant, the sets are beautiful, and the film meshes well. Even in today’s era of high tech everything, I still find this film well above “watchable”.
Conclusion
If you enjoy any classical romance/dramas or are a fan of the novel, you will enjoy Wuthering Heights. It is held up as a standard in this genre, it is star laden, and it was very well received in a year when Hollywood produced more quality films than any other. Enjoy, I have more 1939 films left to watch….
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